


The Mutation of Fear

by Kat_the_Hetalia_fan



Category: Hetalia: Axis Powers
Genre: Angst, Apocalypse, Insanity, Minor Character Death, Mutation, Nuclear Weapons, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Apocalypse, Suicide, Terrorism
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-09-19
Updated: 2016-02-20
Packaged: 2018-04-21 12:50:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,013
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4829750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kat_the_Hetalia_fan/pseuds/Kat_the_Hetalia_fan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When radiation takes the world by storm, causing a humanity wide epidemic of illness and mutation, the nations are left on the brink of disaster. How will it affect them if the majority of the population of their individual nations are suffering the effects of this horrible occurrence? Will quarantine be enough when these effects start to manifest in some of the nations? How far will they go to prevent these horrible mutations from occurring in their own bodies? Is there any hope to escape it at all? And what’s worse, in a time when they are already feared for their power, how will the world perceive them if they should fail?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Just wanted to give a quick shout-out to Teakany for helping me come up with a title for this! :D I'll be updating this once a month so that once my school load becomes heavier I'm not leaving you guys hanging too much.

No one had seen it coming, not a single person or country, not even the person who had caused it to happen. It had been a normal day, really. America remembered it being pretty boring actually. He was in his New York house, he had one in each state but that one was one of his favorites. It had big windows that let in a lot of sunlight and there was plenty of room to move about, plus a little at home gym for when he would try to lose those last stubborn ten pounds.

He was, at the time, lying on his couch in a McDonald’s t-shirt and jeans throwing darts at a dart board with pizza toppings taped on to it. He was bored out of his skull and had decided to order a pizza, but didn’t know what he wanted on it so he cut out little pictures of toppings he liked, and a few he didn’t to make it more interesting, and put them on the board. Currently he was going to order a pizza with extra cheese, hamburger meat, tomatoes, and bacon.

He was getting ready to throw the second to last dart, and just as he was about to let go his cell phone rang, startling him. He groaned as the dart got stuck in the wall. Great. He hoped it didn’t hit any plumbing or he’d have to call someone to come and fix it… Again…

Alfred pulled out his cell phone and answered it as he walked to the wall and tried to carefully pull the dart out without causing too much damage due to his super human strength, “Y’ello, this is the US of A speaking, who’s calling?” He grunted slightly as he tried to pull out the dart.

He internally groaned as he heard an unfamiliar voice start to rant at him, saying that his country was corrupt, that they were part of a ‘group of rebels who would bring him to justice’ and that they couldn’t be stopped. Alfred rolled his eyes, going “Uh-huh” occasionally. He walked over to the phone the FBI had given him for just occasions, and seeing as the guy on his cell phone was just going on and on and on and didn’t seem to be stopping, he put it on speaker while he picked up the phone and pressed the button connecting him to the FBI.

“Hey, it’s me, America. Some nut job got a hold of my cell phone number again and is ranting but the evils of the USA. I put my cell phone on speaker and he’s still going! I’m gonna attach the cord to it so you guys can track him in case he’s actually gonna do something or whatever.” He put the phone down, then connected the cord from the FBI phone to his cell phone, turned off the speaker mode, and went back to trying to get the dart out.

Honestly, how did those people even get his number anyway? He wasn’t listed in the phone book and he had a special area code just for him so it wasn’t like they could just randomly type it in and get lucky. Most of the nut jobs he got were just that, nut jobs. They kept saying all these big, supposedly threatening things, but only one out of a hundred ever did anything that was _actually_ threatening. Really, he was considering asking his boss for a new number, or better security. He’d probably go with the second one, he didn’t want to have to tell everyone he knew that he’d changed his number so that they could update it on their phones, that was just a pain in the ass!

After a while, he finally managed to get the dart out with only minor damage to the wall. He cheered in triumph and reached in to his pocket for his cell phone to order his pizza, finally, but couldn’t find it. He looked over at the counter, only now remembering about the nut job and the FBI tracing it. The guy couldn’t possibly still be on…

Alfred walked over to the phone and hesitated slightly before picking it up. To his surprise, and annoyance, the guy was still going. He face palmed, biting back a heroic whimper as he had forgotten that face palming with glasses on HURTS!

He groaned loudly, “Dude, how the fuck are you still going?! I was on the other side of the room trying to get a dart out of the wall, thanks for making me lose my aim by the way, now I gotta do repairs, while you were blabbing away! Whatever you’re going to do, just _do_ it and stop wasting my time! Of course, I’m sure you probably can’t do whatever threat you were making anyway, so for the love of God, just SHUT UP! You’re wasting all my minutes!” He hung up at that, then went to the FBI phone.

“You guys got his location right? Sorry for hanging up on him like that, I just… You know how annoying they are, I just couldn’t take him anymore.” Alfred had his glasses off, rubbing the bridge of his nose.

The woman at the FBI’s end sighed softly, “I know, mister America, but you can’t hang up like that on them. We were almost done the trace when you did, but we’ve lost him. Next time, please wait until they hang up.”

America chuckled slightly and smiled apologetically, even though she couldn’t see him, “Sorry, my bad. Promise I’ll do that next time! What was he talking about anyway? I tuned out early on.” He unplugged his cell phone from the FBI as he talked and put it back in his pocket. He would’ve turned it off, but he still had a pizza to (eventually) order!

“He was saying that he was part of a terrorist cell who plans on making every nuclear plant in America blow up, killing everyone. We doubt that that will really happen given the man’s fanatic nature, but just to be on the safe side the president has been called and we’re waiting his orders now.”

America groaned, “Great, now I’m probably gonna have to attend a meeting and everyone is gonna call me an idiot and Artie’s gonna go ballistic and uuuggghhhhh! Are you _sure_ we can’t just let it slide, just this once?” He pleaded. He really didn’t want to attend another meeting so soon after the last once, which was just a week ago.

“No, we can’t. If this is a serious threat, a lot of people could be killed. Your boss will call you with further information. Have a good day, Mr. America.” With that, she hung up. Alfred groaned and face palmed, yelping as he had, once again, forgotten about his glasses.

“Son of a-!” He took them off and rubbed at his face. Alfred sighed and looked at the dart board. He picked up the remaining two darts and threw them at the same time. Ham and pineapple.

“Fine, alright, I’ll have a hamburger meat, tomatoes, bacon, ham, and pineapple pizza with extra cheese, I can dig it.” America said out loud to himself. He pulled out his cell phone yet again and called in for a delivery with those toppings. While he waited for it to arrive, he walked over to the dart board and pulled the darts off, placing them in a little box on the table. He went back to the couch and plopped down, looking through the pictures on his cell while waiting. He chuckled at one he took of Prussia trying to fit two big Macs into his mouth at once on a dare.

“Ah, good times, good times.” America snorted at one of France trying to grope a drunk England, and outright laughed at a video of Russia running from Belarus. He hoped that these good times would never end.

Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end sooner or later…

The president and America’s boss had agreed that a meeting wasn’t necessary, thank God America thought, but agreed that they should be on alert since the threat involved nuclear energy. The rest of the world leaders and personifications were told about this threat over video chat, and large scale quarantine measures and even procedures for shutting down the boarders were ready to be put in place. It was two weeks after the call had happened, and America, the president, and America’s boss were at the white house discussing what to do.

“Come on guys, don’t you think all of this is a little excessive? I mean, it was just some random nut job, I get calls from guys like that at _least_ twice a month! What makes this guy so special?” America asked, frowning slightly as he looked at the president and his boss. In the past, the two would be one and the same, but because of all the problems that came from that, the two positions were split up. The president was in charge of running the country, and America’s boss was in charge of making sure any changes made by the president didn’t negatively impact America and therefore the whole country.

“According to the FBI report of the call, the possibility of this ‘nut job’ attempting his threat is very real. He named an environmental terrorist group who has been known to go to extreme measures. They haven’t attempted anything on nuclear power plants, yet, but they have caused significant damage in the past.” The president sat up in his seat fully.

America’s boss was standing next to the president’s desk, his arms crossed, “What makes them even more dangerous is that not only did they call you directly, but the FBI couldn’t finish their trace so we don’t know where he is. He could be in the white house itself for all we know!” America couldn’t help but roll his eyes at that. Every single time a terrorist or some whacko called him, his boss started freaking out over nothing. Well, okay, it wasn’t _always_ nothing, but most of the time it was.

“I think that if he was in the White house, we would already know.” Alfred countered. Suddenly, he was overwhelmed by the feeling of panic. He lurched forward, gripping on to the edge of the presidential desk out of shock.

“America, are you alright?! What’s wrong?” His boss asked him nervously when there was a loud banging at the door. The three of them turned and looked at it as a nervous looking man in a business suit carrying a bunch of papers barged in.

“Mister President, there’s been a computer attack on nuclear power plants all across America!” America went cold and his eyes widened to the size of saucers at this news.

The president stood up, “What?! What did this attack do?!” America’s boss pulled out his phone and started calling the other nation’s bosses to see if they were experiencing anything like it.

“It seems to be messing with the systems, making them go haywire! None of them have melted down, but the staff at the plants can’t do anything to stop the virus either, they’ve been completely locked out!” The man panted.

America’s boss turned off his phone and looked at the others, “Mister President, America, other governments from all over the world are reporting a similar thing happening with their nuclear power plants as well! This is… I-It’s a worldwide attack!”

“What?!” America cried out, regaining his balance after his initial shock. No, this means that the nut job who called him was serious in his threat… He’d actually gone through with it, and now he had control of his country’s nuclear plants. He had hung up on them before the FBI could trace the call, and now not only was his country in danger, but the rest of the world was too. If they couldn’t stop things from getting worse, then everyone could be killed…

The president looked at the man who had delivered the news of the nuclear power plant takeover, “Tell the staff at the nuclear plants to evacuate all personal not directly involved with the computers and tell them to get somewhere safe. Tell the border patrol to be prepared to lock down the boarder at any possible moment to limit the spread of nuclear radiation as much as possible.” The man nodded and ran out of the room to initiate the President’s orders.

He then looked at America’s boss, “Can you get the other bosses on the line and tell them that they should do the same?”

“I’m sure that those with nuclear power plants already have, but I’ll call to make sure.” He pulled out his phone and started trying to reach them.

The phone on the president’s desk rung. It was an outside number as well. America and the President looked at each other briefly before the President put the phone on speaker.

“This is the president of the United States, who is calling?” America’s eyes widened slightly as the person on the other end spoke up. He recognized his voice from just two week ago.

“I’m the one who is going to cleanse this corrupt country of filth like you! For far too long you have done to this country whatever you like, well no more! I have control of the USA’s nuclear power plants, and unless you give in to my demands I’ll have them blow this country and everyone in it to kingdom come!” It was clear that there was no reasoning with him just from his voice alone. He sounded like a fanatic in every sense of the word, but unlike before, he wasn’t rambling on and on. He made his demands, but America was feeling too sick from the nuclear power plants being taken over to really focus in on them.

“This isn’t just about the United states! If you don’t stop this then-” That was the last thing America heard his boss say before he was overwhelmed by the worst pain he’d ever felt. He collapsed to the floor in seconds, screamed in agony and convulsing wildly as he felt every single nuclear power plant in his country go critical and explode. He wanted it to stop, to pass out, but the pain was too intense, too sharp. Through the wall of pain he could see his boss kneeling next to him, wide eyed and yelling something, but America couldn’t hear a word of it. His body felt like it was being blasted point blank with a nuclear bomb, only a million times worse than that. America was vaguely aware that he was saying something, but he was sure that it was coming out as gibberish.

Eventually, after what felt like centuries but was probably only a few minutes, he passed out. When Alfred came to again, he was lying in a bed staring at a white ceiling. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, so everything was a little blurry. He tilted his head to the side, and saw someone sitting in a chair next to his bed. He tried to get up, but found that he was still in a lot of pain and quickly lied back down, groaning.

“Please try to take it easy, Mr. America,” The person put his glasses on America for him, allowing him to see properly. It was his boss. He was wearing a black suit, and he looked incredibly tired and worn out. It was a drastic and shocking change from how he had seen him just a little while ago.

America looked up at her, “What’s going on…? What happened…?” He felt exhausted, to say the least, and he still hurt, though no where nearly as much as earlier. It was a constant, but thankfully dull, pain now, as opposed to what he’d been feeling earlier, and he’d gladly take the trade.

“There was a terrorist attack on the world. The perpetrator tried to cause the nuclear power plants of America to blow up, but the computer virus that acted as the explosive somehow spread in to nuclear power plants all over the world. Only a fraction of them remained, but due to the state of the countries involved, they were quickly abandoned and went off as well. International boarders all over the world have been shut down. Those still alive have been evacuated to safer parts of the country, where there is less radiation. Even so, millions of people are already dead… You’ve been unconscious for ten days now…” America’s boss ran a hand through his hair, sighing deeply and looking down.

America was speechless. What was one to say when they’ve just been told that the world’s gone to shit while you were in a coma? After a while, he finally found some words, as jumbled as they were in his head.

“W-What? T-Ten days… W-What about the others, Mattie, A-Arthur, a-are the other nations alright?”

“We’ve been able to get a hold of some of them for long periods, but a lot recently have stopped communications. No one, not even England, has been able to get a hold of France at all once the plants exploded. They relied on nuclear power more than most did, after all…” He raised his head, “We’ve organized a video conference for this afternoon, with the nations that we have been able to get in contact with. I was going to go in your place, but since you’re awake you can attend it yourself now…”

America frowned and nodded slightly, “What is going to happen now…?”

“You are going to talk with them about how things are going, learn what you can and try to help each other as much as possible given the situation…” America’s boss gave him a sad smile then, which worried Alfred a bit, “It’s been a long time, since I started working with you. What has it been, thirty, thirty-five years now? Yeah, thirty-five sounds right. I never could have imagined that I’d get to work with a personification. I had been so excited, even though I knew that it was a bit of a risky job, this whole thing proves it, but even so, I’m glad I got to know you as well as I did…”

America frowned more and tried to sit up even slightly, but couldn’t, “Mike, why are you saying all this now…?” It wasn’t often that his boss spoke like this, and that just made him all the more worried.

Mike, his boss, reached down and patted America’s hair softly, like you would a child to calm them down, “Things are going to get really hard soon. I know that I could never last in a world like this for very long, but you can, you _have_ to. It’s not right, and it’s certainly not fair, but I guess that’s something you’re used to by this point in your life. I have no idea what this world will turn in to from here, but whatever that world is, it will need you, and the other nations, more than anything.” America gasped as Mike pulled out a gun and pressed it to his temple.

“Mike what are you doing?!” Alfred’s eye went wide and he tried to reach over to him, but the chair was too far away and he was still in too much pain to even move his arm.

“I just wanted to say goodbye, and tell you that it’s been an honor to work with you. Goodbye, United States of America… and good luck, Alfred Jones.” With a smile filled with finality, America’s boss pulled the trigger, killing himself instantly. America could only stare in utter horror as the body of his boss and friend fell to the ground on its side lifelessly.

Not too long after, two security guards came bursting in to see what had happened, stopping when they saw the dead body. When they saw that America was awake, and unharmed, they helped him get up and in to a wheel chair since he couldn’t move well on his own. America couldn’t find anything to say as he watched them take away the body, and as he was wheeled out of the room and down a long hallway. The curtains were drawn, so he couldn’t see outside, but every now and then he caught glimpses of what lied out there. The sky was filled with clouds, and he couldn’t see a speck of green.

He was wheeled in to the room they used for video conferences. It was a fairly simple room, containing a desk and a chair, which had been moved to the side, and a wall of monitors with the names of different countries under each one. There was a camera centered in them, so that the others could see him while they spoke.

For the first time since he had collapsed ten days ago, he saw what he looked like in the reflection of the monitors. He was pretty much the same, except that he had bandages around his head, and his bomber jacket had been taken off. He’d have to ask someone about it later. Also, he had gotten thinner, not a lot but enough that he noticed it, and that others probably would too.

“They’re ready to start the conference whenever you are, Mr. America.” The guard who had wheeled him in left after that, closing the door behind him. America looked back towards the monitors, numbly pressing the button that called everyone else.

Within a few minutes, a couple of the other nations answered. Canada and Hungary had been the first to respond, with England, Spain, Japan, and several others answering soon after. Some of them looked pretty bad, and a few were sharing the same monitor. Switzerland and Lichtenstein were huddled together on one monitor, Switzerland looking like he was fresh off of a battle field, and Lithuania appeared on Poland’s with the blonde being nowhere in sight. Belarus and Ukraine were sharing Ukraine’s monitor, both of whom looked like nervous wrecks. All of them looked exhausted beyond belief.

England looked at America with clear concern and stress in his eyes, “Alfred, you’re alive! Oh, thank goodness I’ve been worried sick about you, especially since I couldn’t get a hold of Matthew until recently and I still haven’t heard from Francis!” A tear of relief got out and England quickly wiped it away.

“What happened to you, Alfred?” Canada’s voice sounded rough, like he hadn’t drank anything in days, and he looked like he hadn’t eaten anything in just as long.

America stared at the nations in front of him for a while, looking them over in shock before he could actually speak, “U-Um, I-I fell unconscious for ten days, o-or something like that… M-My boss just shot himself in the h-head, too, right in front of me…”

“What?! No way…!” Prussia growled and hit his fist against something outside the monitor, probably the desk, “Verdammt, this is so not awesome! People are dying left and right from either the radiation or from other people, and those who aren’t kill themselves!” The albino was trembling slightly.

“Wait, what? What is he talking about, what’s going on in the world?” America frowned and looked at everyone. Just what had he missed while he had been unconscious? Had everything really gotten that bad?

The others were silent for a long time, looking at each other as if unsure how to answer his question. The longer the silence went on, the greater Alfred’s anxiety became.

Eventually, Germany spoke up, “In the ten days, since all of the world’s nuclear power plants exploded, the world population has dropped significantly. It’s impossible to know for sure how many deaths there have been, but… it is estimated to be in the tens of millions, maybe even hundreds of millions… The only place, to our knowledge, that was spared from the initial wave was Australia. However, due to just how much radiation there is in the air, water, and even ground, the world is now completely covered. Animals and plants have dropped like flies, and there is very little water that remains uncontaminated. Quarantine zones-” The German was cut off by a coughing fit, burying his mouth in to his sleeve as the coughs turned hoarse. After a good minute or so of it, the coughs stopped and he panted heavily. Prussia rubbed his back gently, frowning worriedly.

England continued where he left off, “As Germany was saying, quarantine zones have been set up for the small number of people who have not been contaminated, but the largest number of uncontaminated individuals to be reported, from any country, has been two hundred. All of them were people who lived out in remote regions, far away from cities and nuclear reactors, but even then it’s a miracle that this many people are alright…”

Hungary sighed with a frown, “What are we going to do now…?”

America tried to smile to cheer the others up, but he couldn’t get the shock and worry off of his face, “U-Um, h-how about we send everyone not contaminated to live on the moon? O-Or we make a super hero that’ll absorb the radiation, o-or we could-”

England sighed, “Alfred, even if we _had_ the resources for any of your half-baked plans, which we no longer _do_ , none of them would work… All we can do for now is try to get our populations under control, and deal with the radiation and its effects as best we can while trying to keep in touch with each other as much as possible.”

The meeting didn’t last much longer, as they all had to reserve the little power they had left, and there wasn’t much to talk about aside from the radiation and how everyone was doing either.

Once the others had hung up, America just sat there, “This is all my fault… If I hadn’t hung up on that guy before, then none of this would have happened…”

For the first time in a long time, America started to bawl his eyes out, not caring who saw him.


	2. Chapter 2

Twenty years later, things were just barely starting to get under control. Communications had been scarce between the nations, but when they were able to get a hold of one another, they informed them of what they knew and passed it along to any others.

In general, large cities had been abandoned in favour of the quarantine zones, for those who had managed to miraculously avoid being radiated, and they were becoming larger with people inside the camps starting families. It was great in that it was slowly rebuilding the population, and that people were working together to rebuild. Of course, to avoid radiation, the governments of the world kept a sharp eye on the camps. Nothing happened that they didn’t know about. Strict curfews were in place, citizens had to report to certain areas at certain times, and everything was rationed and treated to a high degree. Once a week the citizens of the camps had to be tested for radiation, and anyone above a certain of exposure was kicked out for the safety of the others.

Outside of the quarantine zones, things were much worse. It was as if the apocalypse had happened, which really, it had in a way. Food and water were scarce, finding either that wasn’t contaminated was impossible, and people were killing each other over resources and shelter. Worse still, people had started to mutate, and the majority of children being born were born disfigured or mutated as well. Those who hadn’t mutate had started living in gangs or other groups of survivors, and those who had, had lost their minds and gone insane, acting like blood thirsty monsters. At least that’s what America had pieced together from snippets of conversations he heard.

The damage from the nuclear explosion had not only affected the people of the world, but the countries themselves. America soon learned after the first meeting that he had become paralyzed as a result of the damage. After twenty long years of rigorous, and strenuous, physical rehabilitation, he was almost able to fully use his arms and legs again. His fingers were still a little unresponsive though. He couldn’t make a proper fist, but he could use them for day to day activities relatively well, which was good since he still needed crutches. It was only due to his healing abilities and the efforts of his citizens, what small amount remained, that he had even gotten this far.

The few people who still remained at the White house, where he had been more or less kept prisoner since everything began, pitied him. They didn’t say it, but America could tell. In his mind, he didn’t deserve it. It was all his fault everything had gone to hell. The world had been crippled, and as punishment, even if it was only temporary, so was he.

It had now been four years since he’d last heard anything from any of the other nations. The president had cut off all communications in order to preserve their dwindling power supply, which they were still working on repairing. America had no idea how anyone else was doing, not even his brother who was right across the border. It had also been twenty years since he had gotten more than a passing glance of the outside world. He had been told that there wasn’t much to see, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t want to see it. America felt that he _needed_ to see it, to help him repent for his part in all of it.

One day, America was woken up by the sounds of an alarm going off. He quickly sat up in bed and grabbed the crutches he relied on to get around, getting them on and standing up. Alfred made his way to the infirmary door, which was where he had been permanently staying, as fast as he could, throwing it open. People were running down the hall past him as fast as possible, panicking as they did.

America tried to grab the arm of one of the staff as they ran by him, but missed and lost his balance, falling to the floor with a cry. He grunted as he landed on his side, one of the crutches falling off. The nation rolled out of the way as more people came running by, not seeming to notice him in their panic. Once the hall had cleared, he carefully sat up and looked around for his missing crutch. It had been kicked down the hall and to the side.

“Ah shit…” America groaned. With the alarm going off, no one would come and help, so he’d have to make his way over to it. Using the wall for support, America attempted to stand up. He managed to get to his feet, but with only one crutch it was difficult to move very far at all. Alfred started trembling slightly, hanging his head. The self-doubt that he had been carrying throughout the twenty years since the accident washed over him again, and he couldn’t even hear the sound of approaching footsteps over his own thoughts.

A gruff voice spoke up, “Well, look at this? What do we have here, some little White house brat who thought he’d escaped the outside?” The man chuckled. America tensed and turned around. Behind him were three men, wearing ripped clothing, pretty much rags. They were muscular, yet it was clear that they hadn’t eaten in a while, and there were splotches of radiation burns all over their bodies. The one who had spoken up had a large burn covering the right side of his head.

America looked at them in shock. Is this what people, his citizens, outside of the white house and quarantine zones looked like? He had caused them to live like this…? He felt tears well up in his eyes slightly.

A man with a burn across his neck chuckled, “Aw, look at that, the kid’s about to cry!” He grabbed America’s arm, pulling him to stand up more forcefully. America tensed and looked at the man, trembling slightly, clutching on to his remaining crutch tightly to keep his balance.

“Tell me kid, how much of the outside world have you seen since this all started? Are you even old enough to remember _how_ it started?” He asked with a sneer. America hung his head and nodded. No matter how much he wanted to forget, he know he’d never be able to.

“I… I haven’t seen anything outside the wall of the White house in a long time though…” Alfred said quietly, before looking up at them, “You guys are here for supplies, right? I-If you show me the outside, then I’ll tell you where it’s all kept. Food, water, medicine, whatever you need, you can find it there.”

The leader crossed his arms, “Oh yeah, and how would someone like you know where they keep it? It’s no skin off of our backs if you want to see the outside, but how do I know you’re not just blowing your top off?”

Alfred gulped, “I’ve been here since this all started… I worked here, and helped with moving supplies around. I have my ID card in my pocket if you want to check.” He didn’t care who these guys were or what they’d do to him, he just had to see the outside. He had to know just how much damage he’d caused, he had to…

The leader motioned to the second guy towards Alfred. The second guy, the one with the burn on his neck, walked over and looked through Alfred’s pockets before pulling out his ID card. It had his human name on it instead of his country one for security reasons, and showed that he had high-level clearance, right up there with the president.

The man smirked, “Alright kid, you’ve got yourself a deal.” He turned to the third guy, who was missing an eye due to a painful looking radiation burn, “Grab his other crutch, than let’s make our way outside to show him what he’s been missing out on.” He man nodded and made his way down the hall. While he was doing so, America looked at the other two. Their bodies, what he could see any way, were covered in radiation burns. None of them had any hair on their head, overall they weren’t in very good shape.

The man with a missing eye returned moments later and gave the crutch to America, who got it in place and held on to the handle tightly. Having no choice but to go with them, and being curious about the outside anyway, Alfred was lead outside, surrounded by the three men.

“What’s been happening out there…?” He asked quietly.

The leader looked back at him, “What do you think? The world’s gone to shit, people are mutating left and right, and it’s survival of the fittest. That’s why our crew busted the walls down on this place for supplies. Well, that and to try and find the personification.”

America tensed slightly but kept walking, “What do you want with them?” A part of him already knew the answer, or at least he knew what his answer would be if he was them. The leader grinned darkly, answering his question before he even spoke.

“To kill him of course. It’s his fault that all of this happened. Screw whatever reason he was around in the first place, that fucker deserves to die!” The other two laughed in agreement. Alfred frowned and looked down silently. Sure, it was his fault that this had all happened, but did he truly deserve to die…? Seeing the outside world would give him his answer, at least he hoped so.

Several more minutes passed as they walked to where the looters had gotten in in the first place. Alfred asked them questions about how things were outside, how many people they were with, how the quarantine zones held up. He didn’t get an answer to all of his questions, but what he was learning was more than the president had ever told him, or anyone else for that matter.

When they finally did reach the opening in the wall, which looked like it was caused by an explosive of some kind, America was hesitant to look out at first. He’d be seeing the consequences of his actions for the first time since that glimpse he had gotten that first day after he woke up from his ten day coma.

“Hey, are you coming or what kid?” America gulped and nodded, taking the few steps forward that were needed to see the outside.

The world just outside the white house as bad as he had imagined it to be, and then some. There wasn’t a speck of green anywhere, the pond had completely dried, and the sky was filled with dark grey clouds. All around, there were dead bodies. Some looked human, but many of them looked like monsters from a horror story. Their arms and legs were impossible lengths, they were skin and bones, and in some places it looked like their bones and muscles had busted through their skin, giving them grotesque appearances. On some, their muscles bulged to the point it was unnatural. A few of these individuals’ muscles had bulged so much that their necks looked like they had popped open like a balloon.

“N-No way… I-I…” America collapsed to his knees, eyes wide as he took in the bodies with tears falling down his cheeks. His crutches fell to his sides as he was wracked with sobs.

“O-Oh god, this is all my fault! I-I left my people to die! I-It’s all my fault that bastard who did this got away in the first place!!” America cried out, once more consumed by grief. The three men who had taken him here to see this seemed to put two and two together, and without a word one of them placed a gun against Alfred’s head, not that he longer cared about himself. It was all his fault, it was all his fault, it was all his fault, it was all his-

There was a gun shot, and then another, but America noticed that miraculously, unfortunately, he was still alive. When he opened his eyes, he saw that the one who had been holding the gun to his head, as well as the leader, were dead. He looked up and saw the third guy, the one with the missing eye, laughing manically. Alfred’s eyes widened and he scooted back as much as he could, grabbing his crutches along the way and scrambling to get a hold of them.

The man looked down at him with an insane grin and raised his gun towards America’s head. Before the man could pull the trigger, however, a person wearing a green outfit came running up behind him, hitting him on the back of the head hard enough to knock him out. America watched the man as he collapsed to the ground, before looking up at the person who had saved him. They were wearing a gas mask, and oddly enough, they were holding what looked to be…

Alfred knew who it was before she even pulled the mask off, “Hello Alfred, it’s been a while hasn’t it?” The brunette smiled at him.

Although stunned, he couldn’t help but smile back, “Yeah, it’s good to see you too Elizaveta.”

Hungary helped him back on to his feet along with his crutches, “Come on, lets head back inside for now. I get the feeling that there’s a lot you’ve been kept in the dark about.”


	3. Chapter 3

America and Hungary made their way to the president’s office to learn what the damage was, if any. Hungary moved at a slow enough pace that America didn’t have to work too hard to keep up with her, which he was grateful for.

“How did you find me?” Alfred asked quietly. He was still in shock from what had just happened. He was grateful that Hungary came along when she did and knocked the man out with her frying pan, otherwise he would’ve been a goner.

Hungary looked over at him, explaining as they walked, “It was harder than you’d think. No one had heard from you in years.” She frowned and looked down, “Some of the others thought-”

“Wait, the others are alive?!” America looked at Hungary in shock, stopping in his tracks and frowning, “W-Why didn’t they try to contact me…?” Hungary stopped as well and turned to face him.

“We did, for fifteen years, but you never picked up. Hm, I wonder if… Never mind, the important thing right now is that you’re alive.” Hungary continued moving at that, and Alfred did his best to keep up with her.

“What about the others? D-Do you know if _they’re_ still alive?” Alfred asked quietly.

Hungary nodded slightly, “There’s a small group of other nations that are alive. England managed to gather them, but…” She shut her eyes tightly, clenching her fists as if remembering something painful. Alfred frowned and walked up behind Elizaveta, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“Elizaveta…? Who… Who’s still alive? You said Arthur’s still alive, b-but what about Matthew, or Kiku? Was Francis ever found?” When she remained silent Alfred’s voice took on a pleading tone, “Please, Eliza, say something! Are the others alright?! Where are they?!”

Hungary spun around to face him, “I don’t know! I don’t know who’s alive or not! All I know is that England and some of the others are in hiding somewhere and that the others are probably mutated or worse!” Alfred looked at Elizaveta in shock as she panted, barely contained tears in her eyes. When she calmed down enough to notice the look on his face, she looked down at the floor.

“I’m sorry Alfred, that was uncalled for. I know you’ve been cut off from the others all this time, and from the looks of it you haven’t been outside except for just now. I’ve…” She held a hand to her face, covering her eyes for a little before removing them and continuing on towards the office, “C’mon, let’s get going, there’s a lot we have to discuss.” Alfred nodded slightly and followed her there.

A few minutes later, they reached the Oval office. The President was there with several other officials, reviewing the damage to the white house. When the two nations entered, they all went quiet and looked at them.

After a moment, the president spoke up, “America, are you alright? I was told that you had been captured by the group who had broken in.”

Alfred nodded, “Yeah, I’m alright…” The blonde recounted what had happened, how he’d been ‘captured’ by the attackers, how one of them went insane and killed the other two, and how Hungary had come along and saved him from the third.

The president nodded, coughing slightly in to his sleeve before talking, “We’re glad you’re alright, America.” He turned to look at Elizaveta, “Thank you for saving him, Ms. Hungary. I’m sure that if you hadn’t shown up, he may have been lost.”

Hungary nodded, her and America sitting down, “You’re welcome. Now, I hope you don’t mind, but I do have some questions.”

“Go ahead, as long as I can ask my own.” Alfred noticed how the President tensed up slightly when Hungary asked if she could ask some questions. Why would he have a problem with answering some questions?

“That’s fine. Now, first things first, how have you been managing with the quarantine camp? Still running safely?”

The President nodded, “Yes, and your own?”

“They’re doing fine, last I checked. My government has moved the refugees to one central camp, as many as possible at least. A few of them fell to gangs and mutants.” Hungary explained.

Alfred spoke up, “We’ve been having some problems with-” He was cut off by the president.

“How many people do you estimate are in this camp still?” Alfred frowned slightly at the interruption but didn’t say anything.

“Between two hundred and four hundred. We haven’t had much time to check lately.” Hungary looked at the blonde nation next to her, “Now, what were you saying about having problems with the camps?”

Alfred nodded, briefly looking at the President, before talking, “Well, I don’t know much about it personally, but I have heard that there has been some problems with the camps. Something about them running low on water I think? Oh, and people attacking the camps too, that’s another thing I heard about.” He looked at the president, “Wait, are there any more of those guys in here?!”

Alfred looked around in a slight panic before the President shook his head, “No, it looks like it was only the three of them. We think they might have been a scouting party for a group that got… overzealous, and tried to take the White house down on their own. Hopefully, the message will get across that they’re not going to do so easily.”

Elizaveta crossed her arms, “Hah! I find that hard to believe. If one of them hadn’t gone crazy, and I hadn’t shown up, America would have been killed or worse!”

The President glared at her, and it looked like he wanted to give her a piece of his mind, but instead he turned to look at a solider, “Please escort America back to the infirmary, and have Miss Hungary checked out as well.” The solider nodded and the President looked at Hungary pointedly, “You can stay the night, but you should head back home in the morning. Our resources are limited, but I’ll see to it that you at least reach the border.”

Alfred’s eyes widened, “What?! Are you seriously saying that you’re gonna kick her out?! She saved me, and she’s the first of the other nations I’ve talked to in twenty years! You can’t just do that!” He tried to stand up on his own, but a solider was quickly by his side, making him sit down again. Alfred hated it when they did that, it made him feel even more of a burden than he already was. At least the soldier spared Alfred of having to listen to concerns over him and his current state.

Elizaveta watched the solider and Alfred carefully, inspecting something as it happened, before getting up herself, “Do you mind if I stay a little longer than that? It took me weeks to get here, and I ran out of food and water three days ago and would like to rest and restock before having to head out again.” She asked, looking directly at the President.

He glared slightly but Alfred cut him off, “I’d like for her to stay for at least a few days. She’s the first of the other nations I’ve heard from in a long time. I haven’t even heard from my brother or my parents in twenty years, and you know it.” Alfred and the President stared at each other for a while before the President sighed softly.

“Very well, since this means so much to you. For now though, go to the infirmary and get checked out,” He looked at Elizaveta, “both of you. A guard will escort you there.” The President looked over to a soldier, nodding, and the soldier led the way there.

The three of them walked in silence for a while, before Alfred spoke up, “So, I know you don’t know how the others are doing now, but, how were they when you last saw them?”

Elizaveta sighed softly, “Well, some of them were doing better than others. My country was able to close borders and set up quarantine zones before it got too uncontrollable, and Ukraine had already closed hers off and set things up before the plants even went off.” Alfred nodded in response. After the Chernobyl incident, it made sense that she would take precautions faster than anyone else.

“What about the rest of them?” Alfred asked as they walked in to the infirmary.

Elizaveta looked over at him, “I’ll tell you more when we’re alone.” She sat down on one of the beds and the nurse walked over. Alfred sat down on his bed, fiddling with his jacket which he had hanging on the back of a chair next to his bed. He was glad that he had brought it with him the day of the attack, he would’ve hated if he hadn’t. It was warm, comfy, and more importantly, it held a lot of memories for him, some bad, but mostly good.

It also reminded Alfred of his family. Matthew had gotten it for him in the first place, Arthur would fix it up whenever it got damaged, and Francis showed him how to clean it without wearing it out. Alfred felt tears well up in his eyes as he thought of them. He still remembered the last thing he had said to each of them, as if it had been yesterday.

_Alright, see ya at the next meeting France!_

The two of them were just parting ways after Alfred had tagged along with Francis, Gilbert, and Antonio for a night out drinking. If he had known that that would be the last time he saw him for twenty years, possibly the last time he ever saw him, Alfred would’ve begged him to stay, or at least given a more heart-felt goodbye.

_Take care, alright Mattie?_

It had been during one of the last conferences they had had, or that he had been to at least. The two of them were just saying goodbye, when there had been a banging on the door at Canada’s end. Matthew had turned to look at the door when it was kicked down, and survivors covered in burn marks busted in. The remaining nations that had been a part of the conference, which had decreased in number from the first time they had talked, had panicked as they were forced to watch him fight off his attackers. Matthew had run out of the room, being followed by the men who had attacked him, and after that the signal cut out. As far as Alfred knew, Matthew had either been protected by his government and was safe and sound, or… He didn’t want to think about the ‘or’.

_Do you think we’ll ever see the others again?_

This had been at the last meeting he’d ever been to. Their numbers had dwindled even more. Elizaveta, Roderick, and Gilbert had started sharing a monitor as well. Elizaveta and Roderick had been put together by their governments, saying it would be safer this way, and Gilbert had joined them after having to flee Germany, but wouldn’t say what happened to Ludwig and got quiet whenever someone mentioned him. The others had just hung up, leaving Alfred and Arthur to talk by themselves. They had gone off of the topic of their country, and moved on to more personal topics, such as how Alfred was recovering physically and how Arthur was holding up mentally. Alfred had asked this out of desperation for some hope, but before they could say a proper good bye, the power on Arthur’s end cut out. Alfred had cried hard that night…

The nurse finished up with Elizaveta, and after checking over Alfred and taking care of a scrap on his knee, she left the two of them alone to rest. Elizaveta got up and moved over to Alfred’s bed, sitting on the edge while Alfred sat up on the main part of it.

“So, the others…?” Alfred leaned forward towards Elizaveta slightly.

She took a deep breath before starting, “I don’t know how they’re doing now, but I do know how some of them were the last time I saw them. The only ones I still had contact with after the last time we talked were Ukraine, Lithuania, and Switzerland. The others either had run out of power, didn’t respond, or couldn’t respond…”

Alfred nodded slightly, “How were they?”

“Bsach said that he was running out of power. He and Erika were planning on going to England, since Arthur had said he’d been working on some form of protection. Overall, they had been doing pretty well. Their quarantine zone had been holding up, and they hadn’t had too many problems with gangs or mutants.” Hungary played with the bandage around her arm, “Bsach said that he’d leave some weapons behind, if any of us happened to be in the area and needed them. I stopped by, after he was gone, but the weapons had already been picked over pretty well. There wasn’t anything of use left.”

“If he was doing so well, then why would he leave in the first place? Wouldn’t that put Erika in danger?”

Elizaveta tightened the bandage a little, it having come loose from her playing with it, “Yes, but Bsach said that he had a bad feeling about what would happen if they stayed any longer. He mentioned something about his legs feeling slightly numb during the time between our last conference and the one we were currently in.”

Alfred looked down at his own legs with a sad smile, “Heh, I know what that’s like. My legs haven’t worked properly in twenty years. I only started being able to walk about five years ago, and even now I still need my crutches to get around.” He wiggled his fingers slightly, “My fingers are a little unresponsive too, but I can still use them.” Elizaveta nodded slightly, watching Alfred’s fingers move stiffly.

The blonde looked up after a while, “What about Katyusha and Toris? How are they?”

“Toris was with Feliks in Poland.” Hungary frowned and looked away slightly, “Bsach asked if he wanted to join him and Erika in going with them, but Toris said that he couldn’t.”

“But why?” Alfred asked, slightly worried to hear the answer. Toris was his friend, and had even lived with him for a while, so the thought that he might still be out there on his own…

Hungary looked back at him, “He said that Feliks’ mental state was deteriorating due to the radiation. The two of them are hidden somewhere in the Polish countryside, but he wouldn’t get more specific than that. Toris said that it’s safe enough there for the two of them, and that it’d be best if they were left alone until either Feliks’ mind recovers or everything returns to normal… Well, relatively normal.”

Alfred could only nod slightly in shock, “What about Ukraine…?”

“She’s still with her government, last I heard…” Elizaveta was silent for a while before speaking up again, “You know, we could leave here together and try to find the others. We could find England, and see who’s with him before going to find those that we can, and work together to rebuild things.”

Alfred looked at her with wide eyes, thinking she was kidding, but it was clear that she was serious, “Eliza… I… I want to see Arthur, and Matthew again, b-but I can’t just _leave_ here, they still need me….”

Elizaveta held the serious gaze in her eyes, leaning forward slightly and holding his hand, “The others need you more.” She was about to say more but stopped when the door opened, a soldier walking in with two trays of food for them. Elizaveta looked at Alfred before getting up, taking the trays from the soldier, and walking back over.

She handed Alfred his tray, leaning in close and whispering, “Let’s talk about this more later, once we’re not being watched. Please, at least consider this, I don’t want this trip to have been for nothing.” The blonde watched as Elizaveta walked over to her bed, sitting down and eating.

Would it really be worth going out there and possibly seeing his friends and family again? What if they weren’t even… around, anymore…? Alfred looked down at his food, frowning in thought before starting to eat slowly, thinking things over.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter might be delayed, as I've been dealing with a lot of stress due to classes and haven't been in the mood to write much lately. After the winter vacation when the new semester starts, I should HOPEFULLY be up to it again, but only time can tell.


	4. Chapter 4

That night, Alfred lied awake in his bed, staring at the ceiling. The blonde went through what he had learned from Elizaveta in his head, as well as the bits and pieces he had put together, anything to not have to think about the trouble he had caused:

Arthur and some of the others, though he didn’t know _who_ exactly, are still alive somewhere.

Toris and Feliks are hiding in the Polish countryside somewhere, with Feliks slowly growing insane.

Katyusha had closed off her borders early on, like his boss had, and was still there in her country. Supposedly Ivan and Natalia, possibly Raivis and Eduard, were with her as well.

Bsach and Erika were possibly with Arthur by this point, or were still making their way there. Either way, they were still alive the last time Elizaveta had talked to them.

Basch had started to loose feeling in his legs, hence why he had taken Erika out to try and find Arthur’s hideout. Could that have had something to do with the nuclear fallout, and why his own legs didn’t work so well even after all this time?

That answered at least some of his questions, but… it still left a lot of the other nations unaccounted for. Heck, Alfred couldn’t even be entirely sure about what he _did_ know about who was alive or not. All he could hope and pray for was that they were safe…

Alfred started thinking about what Elizaveta had said, about the others being alive and needing him. Why would they even want him anymore, all of this was his fault… No matter how hard Alfred tried to convince himself otherwise, and he had tried, he always ended up feeling responsible for everything that had gone wrong. How could he not, if he hadn’t been an idiot and hung up on that one fucking terrorist, then everything would still be alright…! With that thought in his head, Alfred stared up at the ceiling as his thoughts raced through his mind, tears building up in his eyes and threatening to spill over.

He didn’t know when it happened, but sometime during the night Alfred had managed to fall asleep, as when he opened his eyes again it was day time. Breakfast was sitting on the table next to him, as was Elizaveta. Her bandages were still on, which was odd for a nation since they healed much faster than a human did, but her jacket was hanging on the edge of her bed, leaving her in a dark green tank top that had seen better days.

“Hey Eliza, how long have you been awake?” Alfred sat up in bed, adjusting himself so that he was comfortable, and looked at her.

“A few hours, I had a hard time sleeping last night, I kept having bad dreams. They brought breakfast in for us a little while ago, so it’s not cold or anything.” She picked up one of the plates and handed it over to him, which Alfred took from her and started digging into his meal of rations. He’d gotten used to the less the appealing taste of them, though he still missed burgers and vanilla ice cream a lot.

Elizaveta sighed and leaned forward in her chair, “Alfred, we really need to talk, about what I asked you last night.”

Alfred choked slightly on his food, swallowing it and panting softly, “What do you mean?” Elizaveta looked around. When she saw no one in the room with them, she walked over to the door and closed it, locking it from the inside. Eliza then walked around the room, checking for any other doors just to make sure.

After that, she went back over to Alfred and sat down next to him once more, looking him right in the eyes with her hands folded together on her lap, “I want you to leave here with me, so that we can get to England, find the others, and try to fix all of this. Despite everything that has happened between us, _all_ of us, over the years, we need everyone to work together to fix this, but first we have to _find_ everyone.” She spoke seriously, her eye not leaving the American.

He chuckled slightly and gave a sad smile down to his plate, “Why? Why do you want me so badly? I caused all of this. If anything, you should all want to kill me, and by this point, I wouldn’t blame you for wanting to do so either…” Alfred could feel tears coming forth, so he shut his eyes tightly to try and hold them back, “I’m nothing but trouble… you and the other nations can solve all of this without me…”

The Hungarian gripped Alfred’s shirt with both hands and forced him to look at her, “Alfred stop saying that! We need you as much as any of the others, more than ever! This isn’t your fault!” Alfred looked up at her nervously as Eliza continued to yell at him, “Yes, it happened in your country, but it would have happened regardless of if you knew about it or not! The person who was responsible for this was a human, probably long dead by now, and probably completely nuts too!”

She panted heavily and let go, leaning back in her seat and looking down, “It wasn’t you, Alfred, I know that much. Please, just stop blaming yourself…”

Alfred took a moment to recover from the Hungarian’s outburst, processing her words. Though he still blamed himself, he considered it. He had a responsibility to help put this right… hiding out wasn't going to help anyone, but… he furrowed his brows and sighed, running a hand through his hair, finally looking up at her and speaking almost hollowly, “I want to help you, but I can’t even walk on my own anymore. I’d only slow you down if we did leave…”

Elizaveta sighed deeply, “Alfred…” She bit the inside of her lip and stood up, “Fine, if I can’t convince you, then I’ll just leave. If I find anyone else, I’ll tell them you’re still alive.” Alfred frowned as he watched her grab her coat and leave, closing the door behind her.

For the next two weeks that followed, Alfred thought about what Elizaveta had said nonstop. The more he thought about it, the more determined he became that she was right, and brought this to the attention of the president.

The two of them were talking in the infirmary, and the president sighed after Alfred told him what he wanted to do, “Alfred, I can’t allow you to go after her, it’s too dangerous, and you’re needed here.”

“But they need me too, out there! Eliza told me that Arthur’s alive, and that some of the others are too!” The personification of America tried to argue, but the president wasn’t listening to him.

“I said no Alfred, and you’re going to listen to me. What if you got hurt further? Think of the consequences that it would have on your few remaining citizens.” Alfred glared up at him in frustration, “But that’s all I do! That’s all I’ve been doing since the nuclear plants blew up! I want to do something to fix it, and finding the others might be the key to doing so!”

The president just stood up and walked towards the door, “No, Alfred, you’re to take it easy so that you can recover from everything that has happened, and to prevent things from getting any worse than they already are.” Before Alfred could get another word out, the president walked out and closed the door behind him, the sound of a lock engaging. That meant that Alfred was now, more or less, trapped in his room.

Alfred shifted to sit up and grab his crutches, holding on to them and moving towards the window. He sat down with a grunt and looked outside, frowning. The other nations were still out there… The people who he called his friends, his family… He’d give _anything_ to see any of them again, Ivan, Cuba, Yao, Kiku, Francis, Matthew… Heck, he’d even be willing to do anything to see Arthur again…

The blonde shuddered as memories of a time from when he was a colony came back at that moment. He and Arthur had been staying at one of Arthur’s country-side homes, where no one knew that they were nations. At the time he didn’t understand what was so great about that, but later on in life Alfred was grateful for those opportunities to just be a normal person.

Anyway, the two of them had been at Arthur’s country house when someone had tried to break in. Arthur had been, as Al later figured out, practically passed out from too much drinking, so when he had heard the sound of a window breaking in the dead of night, Alfred hadn’t known what to do. He panicked and ran to Arthur’s side, hiding under the blanket that a servant had early thrown across his lap and crying loudly, begging for Arthur to wake up and protect him. The man who had broken in eventually made his way up to the room that Alfred and Arthur were in. When Alfred saw him, he got more frightened and started trying to wake Arthur up even more. The man had made his way across the room, but just before he could grab Alfred, Arthur had woken up. He managed to get rid of the would-be burglar, but Alfred was still horribly upset.

Arthur, being the kind care-giver he had been, held Alfred closely and gave a gentle smile, gently rocking him, “Ssh, it’s okay America, I’ll always be here to protect you, I promise.”

Yeah, well, given all that’d happened, it looked like that was one promise that he hadn’t been able to keep once Alfred had gotten older. Now, it was time for Alfred to be the hero, even more than he ever had been.

Even though the president had told Alfred to take it easy which he had up until then, only walking when he absolutely had to, when no one was around, the blonde would walk around his room with the help of his crutches. If someone walked in on him doing so, he’d just say that he had to go to the bathroom or that he thought he had heard or seen something.

Once he started feeling more stable and confident on his feet with the crutches, he started trying to go without them. At first, Alfred would try just standing without them. The first time didn’t go so well, as almost instantly he collapsed onto the floor and had to have a nurse untangle him from a divider curtain. Fortunately, they wrote it off as an accident, Alfred’s story of being sleepy when he tried to stand up somehow being believed. He also did push-ups and sit ups to try and strengthen his body as well. Again, those didn’t go very well at first either, especially the push-ups. It only served to remind him of how weak he had gotten, but also as a motivator to get strong once again so he could protect others who were weaker then him.

A month after he started his own strict physical therapy, going through the night most of the time if he was able to, Alfred was now able to walk short distances without his crutches, as long as he was able to lean against the wall or hold onto something. Of course, he kept this hidden from the president as well as the other staff. If they knew he was making progress on getting better on his own, he wasn’t sure how they’d react. Most likely, they’d try to get him to stay regardless of his improved condition, by any means necessary.

Alfred was trying to cross the room on his shaky legs, holding his crutches under his arm but not using them, when an alarm went off, “What the heck is it now?!” He cried out, looking around him. The American’s legs started to give out, so he quickly got his crutches into place, just as the infirmary door slammed open and several soldiers came running in.

“What’s going on?!” The blonde looked at the soldiers with wide eyes as they surrounded him, one going so far as to pick him up, “We’ve been ordered to transport you to the safe area until further notice.” Before Alfred could complain, ask questions, or even go ‘huh?!’ he found himself being carried down the hallway by one soldier while the rest formed a circle around them, as much as they could anyway, to guide them to the safe area.

“That still doesn’t tell me why we gotta!” Alfred cried out, getting no response from any of the soldiers. He grunted and tried to squirm out of the arms of the soldier carrying him as they rounded the corner and were greeted by the sight of a fight going on. There were easily a dozen US soldiers fighting one opponent, but whoever it was was winning against them. One managed to land a solid hit, causing the attacker to come into view, and Alfred’s eyes widened when he recognized who it was.

“Eliza?!” He cried out in shock. She looked over at Alfred and the group of soldiers with him, who had raised their guns in her direction, and quickly abandoned her current fight, racing over to him at the speed that only a nation could truly achieve. Before any bullets could be fired, Eliza punched the soldier holding Alfred hard in the face, grabbed Alfred before he could hit the ground, and kept running in the direction that Alfred and the soldiers had just come from.

Alfred clung on to her for dear life, not really sure of what was going on but not going to question it either, at least not until they were a safe distance away. Elizaveta rounded a corner, where soldiers were already waiting for them with their guns raised. She tried to back away, but the soldiers that had been chasing them caught up, and now the two of them were completely surrounded.

“Szar…” Eliza muttered under her breath, looking around them with a glare.

One of the soldiers, a captain judging by the rank markings on his uniform, stepped closer, “Alright, hand over the nation and you won’t get hurt, ma’am.” The brunette glared more at him and held Alfred closer, “No, you’ve been keeping Alfred prisoner long enough! I won’t stand by and watch as you keep him here any longer!” She yelled.

“Eliza… I…” Alfred bit his lip, trying to make it look like this was a hard decision for him, even though in reality he had made the choice that he wanted to leave a while ago. Truthfully, he was just trying to think of how to get them out of this situation. Sure, he could walk now, but would he be able to run? If he couldn’t, then they’d be caught again for sure, and who knows what would happen then.

He decided to take the risk. It wasn’t like they’d be able to seriously hurt them right? Right…? Alfred leaned up and whispered, “Eliza, drop me and prepare to run. Just trust me on this okay?” She didn’t do anything for a second, but then nodded just enough for him to see it. The Hungarian dropped Alfred, and seconds later the American dashed towards the startled soldiers, shoving one of them out of the way with Elizaveta following behind shortly after him.

The few seconds head-start while the soldiers were startled by Alfred’s sudden ability to walk again was enough time for the two nations to get a head start, getting about half-way down the hall before they started to come after them again, “T-This way, there’s a path we c-can take that’ll lead us straight outside!” Alfred grabbed Elizaveta’s arm and yanked her down the side hallway, running as fast as he could to the door and praying that it wasn’t locked.

Alfred shoved the door open and fell to the ground, unintentionally pulling Elizaveta down with him, “M-My legs feel like they’re burning…” He’d overestimated how much strength he had in him, even with the adrenalin rush he had going through him, “Don’t worry, I’ve got you.” Eliza stood up and scooped Alfred up once again, holding him closely and continuing to run.

After what felt like hours, Elizaveta stopped, panting and placed Alfred down on the ground, “I think we’ll be safe here for now.” She sat down, sighing in exhaustion, and leaned back against a chunk of wall.

“Thanks for carrying me all that way, you didn’t have to.” Alfred leaned against the wall next to her, the burning feeling in his legs from exhaustion having cleared up, but still wanting to take it easy.

“Speaking of that, when did you learn how to walk again? The last time we saw each other-” Alfred cut her off, “I know, I couldn’t even go a step without my crutches, I don’t need to be reminded of that.” He sighed and lied down, splaying his legs to try and let the blood flow to them a little bit better, “After you left, I started thinking more and more about what you’d said, about everyone needing me. I started working on walking again on my own, though I didn’t know if I’d be able to run or not.”

Eliza nodded, “Well it’s a good thing you could, or otherwise I don’t know how we would’ve been able to get out of there.” She pulled her backpack on to her lap and started looking through it, pulling out a water bottle and handing it to Alfred, “Here, drink some. I took some reserve supplies before leaving, so it’s not radiated too badly.” The blonde nodded and took the bottle, opening it and drinking about half of it before handing the bottle back to Eliza, who finished off the rest of it with a sigh.

“How much do you have left in there?” Alfred looked at the roughed up backpack. It was a dark green, standard school backpack which looked like it had seen more than its fair share of usage. There was a sleeping bag tied to the top of it with some rope, and a metal thermos dangling from one of the zippers by a carabiner.

Eliza took a quick look through it, “I have a small first-aid kit, some rope, a hunting knife, a water filtration device, which doesn’t do much for radiation but does at least help deal with dirt and bugs, some potassium iodine, and not a whole lot else aside from some protein bars. That was the last of the water by the way, at least the last of it that was purified before the radiation hit.”

Alfred nodded solemnly and pulled his knees a little closer, “I’m sorry… You know, for all of this…” He motioned around them to the barren landscape. Surrounding them at the moment were crumbled buildings and dead trees. There was no sign or people or even animals here, not even bones. Alfred guessed that they must’ve decayed by now or something, and any humans still left alive and not overly radiated were in camps.

Elizaveta sighed and closed her backpack, looking down at the grey ground, “Alfred… I know you feel a lot of guilt for this, I don’t blame you for that, but you weren’t responsible for-”

“Yes I am! I was the one who hung up on that fucking terrorist before the call could be traced, if I hadn’t then none of this would have happened!” He could feel tears building up in his eyes, but hid them by burying his face in his legs.

He heard Elizaveta sigh again before speaking, “Well, we can’t change the past, but we can look to what we’re going to do next. The plan is to get to England first and see how many of the other nations are with Arthur. From there, I’ll go out and try to find more of the others.”

“Wait, you’re not letting me come with you? Why?” Alfred frowned, why would she want him to stay behind, hadn’t she come to get him to help?

Eliza looked at her watch, then back at Alfred, “It’s getting late, we should rest for now and talk about this more in the morning once we’re on the road.” She untied the sleeping bag from the top of her backpack and placed it down on the ground, “I only have the one, so we’ll have to take turns with it. I’ll take the first watch for anything that might attack us, you get some rest.”

“No, you should get some-!” Before Alfred could finish his complain, Eliza had scooped him up and put him in the sleeping bag, zipping it up, “You need the rest more than I do. You collapsed once we were outside of the white house for Christ’s sake!” She smiled softly at him, “I promise that I’ll wake you up when I get tired, alright?”

With a sigh, Alfred nodded, “Alright, but you’d better…” the brunette nodded and walked over to a nearby dead tree, not having to do much to get the branches off for firewood. Once the Hungarian had enough, she walked back over to Alfred and started making a fire. It wasn’t long after that, that Alfred found himself falling asleep.

Despite sleeping on the hard ground, with only a sleeping bag between it and him, Alfred slept better than he ever had in the past twenty years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so obviously the one chapter a month thing isn't working out. School has been more stressful and time consuming then I had thought, even with the breaks I've had recently. I'm part way through the second semester now, and so far things haven't been as stressful, so hopefully I'll be able to update this a little more frequently then I have been lately.


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